She was born on 8 February 1890 in
Málaga. The family emigrated to Madrid, where her beauty and that of her sister, Victoria, were welcomed. Painters
Julio Romero de Torres and
Ricardo Baroja asked that they model, but Anita refused being only 16. During the marriage ceremony of king
Alfonso XIII of Spain in
Madrid,
Sir Jagatjit Singh Sahib Bahadur, the Maharaja of the
princely state of
Kapurthala watched her performances in a
cafe-concert. He seduced her and stayed with her throughout the wedding but left after
the bombing of the royal couple (31 May 1906) in an assassination attempt on Alfonso. Later, however, her friends Romero de Torres,
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán and
Pastora Imperio convinced her to further meet him in Paris. He had her educated (including in French) in order that he could explain his love for her. They married on 28 January 1908. After a
Sikh marriage in India, she changed her name to Rani Prem Kaur Sahiba. They later travelled in Europe and India, and she wrote a book about this time called "Impresiones de mis viajes a las Indias". She also gave birth to the Maharaja's son,
Maharajkumar Ajit Singh Sahib Bahadur (born 26 April 1908, educated at Cambridge University and at the Military Academy,
Dehradun. Assistant to the Indian Trade Commissioner in Argentina, died in 1982). During the
First World War, her husband worked in Franco-British hospitals. They separated after the Maharaja married his sixth wife and as a result, Delgado stayed in Paris living secretly with her secretary in order that her allowance continued.
SS Persia, a ship carrying her jewels to France, sank en route. The jewels are said to be worth millions. She died on 7 July 1962 in Madrid. ==In the media==